Anniversary
by PLLHalebSpoby
Summary: How Spencer and Toby's anniversary should have gone in 3x16 "Misery Loves Company." Spoilers for that episode. Review and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Spencer Hastings jumped as another quick clap of thunder shook the loft apartment she was currently in, finalizing the finishing touches of her surprise anniversary dinner. She had been in the spacious loft the better part of the afternoon, cooking and scrutinizing wine glasses, trying to choose _the _perfect one to celebrate their anniversary (and more importantly, their love for each other).

With shaking, excited hands, she placed the two wineglasses on the dining table, filled them each with red wine and put the two dinner plates full of her mother's pasta on the table. It had been her mother's idea to have Spencer serve Toby the same dinner she had given her father when it had been their first anniversary.

_Only an hour to go_, she thought, glancing at the lit digital clock on the stove. She knew it would be a nice surprise for him, especially considering he had had to work in a torrential downpour and then drive home in it.

She passed the remaining time by putting together the present she had gotten him: A scrabble board filled with the words _glyceraldehyde _and _goofball. _The same exact words they had played against each other the night they had been spying on Jenna. She had also paid big bucks to have a special engraving put on it: "I love you. For T, my safe place to land. Always your girl, S."

Scrabble had become their unofficial game together. They had played it the first night they spent together, and more recently when his power had gone out and they didn't have anything else to do.

Glancing at the clock again, she grabbed the short white dress that she had picked up that day and went into his spacious bathroom, changing into the dress and reapplying some makeup that had gotten smudged from bustling around the kitchen all afternoon. The dress was perfect—not too short and not too long, either. It hugged her curves in exactly the right way and wasn't too tight or too loose.

When she heard the text message her phone had received, she dove foreword for it and grabbed it off the counter, smiling to herself when she saw Toby's name and number highlighted along with the text.

_On the way home. Dinner was good. Miss you. _

She had to remind herself that he wasn't supposed to know anything about tonight, but it was too tempting to let him know that she would be there, waiting for him when he got home after a long, hard day at work.

_I'm glad, baby. Still stuck at the dinner with my Mom and Dad. See you in the morning?_

She held the phone in her hand, biting her bottom lip nervously as she glanced at the clock, counting down the minutes until he was hers and they could enjoy their night.

It took way too long (in her opinion), for Toby to get there. But when she heard his truck pull up and heard his footsteps on the pavement and up the stairs, she held her breath, knowing how wary he was of surprises, but also knowing how much he enjoyed them when it was something good.

When the illusive door finally opened and Toby got his first view of the surprise, she saw his face freeze before relaxing into a warm smile as he met her halfway, embracing tightly before he tilted her chin up for a kiss that left her wanting (and needing) more.

"Happy Anniversary, baby," she whispered softly. "Do you like it?"

"Do I like it?" He shook his head. "I _love _it. You went to all this trouble, Spence?"

"Of course! It's a special occasion, isn't it?"

He smiled and nodded as he dropped his tool belt to the ground. "It absolutely is." His eyes then traveled to the dinner table and the smooth white cloth she had laid across it. "What did you make? It looks amazing." He intertwined his hand with hers as they, together, sat down side by side at the table.

"I made an old Hasting family recipe—lasagna," she cracked a shaky smile. "My Mom made it for my Dad when it was their first, and she handed over the recipe."

"To a new generation."

Spencer smiled, nodding her head. "The wine was Hanna's idea and thanks to Emily," she held up the keys to the apartment. "I got the keys."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Well, I wouldn't do this for just anyone-" she said quietly, but was cut off by the soft kiss he planted on her lips. She leaned over, wrapping her arm around his strong, taut neck, pulling him closer. "I love you," she gasped out between kisses.

"I love you too," he whispered, trailing kisses down her neck before finally stopping and gazing at her with the same exact eyes she had fallen in love with a year ago, the first time they had spent time together in that motel room.

"I have another surprise." She stood up, getting the Scrabble board from it's store bag and laying it across the table. "It's for both of us, but more you than me."

He bowed his head to read the inscription on the back, the side she had purposefully laid it on. "Spencer, this is absolutely beautiful." He sounded awestruck, as if he couldn't believe that anyone would do something so thoughtful for _him. _

"But do you like it?" She pressed, a smile playing across the edges of her lips.

"I love it."

"Well, then my job is complete."

He chuckled, looking down at the board. "You never told me what," he squinted at the word that was diminished in the lighting around them, "glyceraldehyde means."

"It's a trios monosaccharide," she explained simply, sounding as always like she was reciting the phrase from a dictionary. "But you," she pointed an accusing finger at him. "What's goofball?"

The corners of his mouth twitched into a teasing grin. "The word I won against you."

"Yeah," she sputtered, "but that's not even in the dictionary, for crying out loud!"

"Neither is glyceraldehyde."

She couldn't argue with him there, instead she settled for leaning against him, feeling his warm body heat against her own as he planted soft kisses along her scalp, his arm wound tightly around her.

"Are you staying over tonight?"

She nodded.

"Good."

"Happy Anniversary, baby."

"Happy Anniversary."


	2. Chapter 2

"So do you want to watch _Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader_?" Toby asked, as Spencer cuddled up next to him on his queen size bed. "Or _True Blood_?" Toby's expression, plus the way he kept coming back to HBO, showed Spencer what _he _wanted to watch.

"I've seen enough blood to last me longer than those vampires," she murmured softly, adjusting her position and lying her head across his chest. "Besides, there's a lot you can learn from that show," she lifted her head briefly to look at her boyfriend.

"I think I can safely guarantee that I know a hell of a lot more than a bunch of skinny fifth graders."

Spencer shrugged as Toby drew his warm comforter over her. "Only one way to find out." She took the remote control from him and switched it back to the correct channel. "Besides, you're a closet Jeff Foxworthy fan."

He snorted. "Am not." But he sighed, resigned and pretended (for her benefit) to be interested and involved in the show.

"What's the largest South American country by area?" Spencer looked expectantly at Toby, waiting to see if he could answer it. "Come on," she egged, when he shook his head. "If you turn it down, you'll be losing to a bunch of skinny fifth graders," she said, using his earlier words against him.

"The largest South American country by area?" He repeated thoughtfully, squinting his eyes as if he was trying to remember the long lost fact in his brain. "Brazil," he finally said. "And you can thank my geography teacher for that."

"O...kay," Spencer said, looking surprised as the answer was deemed the right one. "Very good."

"Bet you won't get the next one right," Toby teased, a smile on his face as he waited for the next question to be called. "And it would serve you right."

"Oh, you are so on," she rolled her eyes, feeling the all too familiar competitive drive slice through her veins like hot fire.

"Okay, what are the capitols of all fifty states?"

She scoffed, waving her hand. "Oh, that's so _easy. _Michigan is-"

"In alphabetical order," he said with a smirk. "Not feeling so cocky now, are we?"

The gape that appeared on her mouth was quickly closed when she regained her breath. She liked the fact that Toby was challenging her, and if there was one thing that Spencer Hastings _didn't _back down from, it was a direct challenge.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, mentally getting all the fact she had _ever _learned about capitols in order, and started rattling off the list, paying close attention to what order she was going in. When she finally stopped to catch her breath, she looked at Toby who was shaking his head. "What?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you were a dictionary and that dictionary got burned and was reborn as you."

She shook her head, looking down at the dark blue comforter and then up at his face. In the limited lighting from the muted TV, she could see that his eyes were half-closed, no doubt a reflection of working long hours and driving home in the downpour.

"It's called pressure and more pressure, kind of an unspoken Hastings family rule. You have to be _the _best at everything and second just isn't...good enough." That lesson had been brutally driven into her mind when she had come home with a B minus and her parents had given her a stern lecture about priorities and making room for more study time.

"Well," Toby adjusted his position on the bed. "With my family, my Dad especially, all that matters is that you pass. Grades and stuff like that just-" he shrugged. "Don't matter. Not unless you don't graduate."

"Has it always been like that?"

"Long as I can remember."

She had never met Toby's father and stepmother before. From what she knew, they had sent him to reform school for a year after he confessed to what she and the other girls had done and their prank that had unintentionally blinded Jenna.

"Let's just not talk about it, okay?" She didnt want the memory of their anniversary to be tarnished by talking about skeletons in the closet and things that couldn't be helped.

He nodded, his jaw tightened before relaxing back into the same, casual look he had worn with her all evening. "So was there really a dinner?" He asked after a few minutes. "Or was that part of your brilliant cover-up?"

Spencer shook her head. "No, there was really a dinner. The part I lied about was that Dad expected me to be there."

He shook his head, cupping her face in his large hand as he leaned in for the kiss that she had been waiting for patiently (and impatiently) all night. She closed her eyes, letting herself completely forget everything and every_one _as she, for once, let all her worries completely escape her.

"How did I end up with such a beautiful-" she blushed, feeling her cheeks burn. "Smart-" she rolled her eyes. "And outrageous girl like you?"

"You just have low standards," she whispered against his lips before letting him kiss her with the same intensity and the same passion that he had kissed her with when he had returned to Rosewood after his long break.

He chuckled, the sound of it vibrating deep within his chest as he pulled her closer. "Not possible."

She smiled, her hand briefly brushing against his left hipbone, the same hipbone that he had the tattoo "901, free at last." The tattoo signified him ending his relationship with Jenna and breaking free from her lies and manipulations.

"Can we stay like this?" She wondered aloud, thinking about how perfect the world would be if she and Toby could stay the way they were now: locked in each others arms, all the threats from A and all the friend drama, just disappearing. It was a strange, unexpected feeling of bliss and freedom and she loved it.

"We _are _like this," he reminded her, before kissing her along her collar bone.

"You know what I mean."

"It's not perfect, but if we have each other? It's all that matters."

She nodded, accepting the truth in his words. "I guess."

All in all, it had been an amazing anniversary.

* * *

_So I decided to make "Anniversary" a two-shot story because I wasn't completely ready to cave and let my imagination end and let the ugly truth about Toby settle in. So I added on to this and more of their night. Hope you enjoy it, guys!_


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